Tales of a Novice Cyclist

So,.. it looks like I have a sprained ankle.  DOH!  I somehow injured it while kitesurfing last week.  I don’t recall anything particular… but I guess something happened.  I thought something was a little off, then noticed the green bruise and some inflammation around the top of the foot and ankle.  Funny, it didn’t bother me at all when I did my 4500 ft of climbing on Saturday…. :-\  But then again, I probably made it worse since I noticed the inflammation only yesterday.

And my good ole Acura Legend…. has been acting up… “Check Engine” light came on on Friday, and the transmission feels a bit off.  Not shifting right and randomly powering down at odd times.  It did last quite a long time.  249K miles.  Sigh… so off to find a new car to haul all my shiat….

O, and BRAND NEW wing on Sunday - woohoo! I kited it for a little bit and flew it at the training hill on Sunday.  T’was very nice indeed… nice and crispy. can’t wait to take it up to the mountains! And of course, I didn’t bring my camera for pictures of the new wing.  GRrrrrr….  Next time.. Really. For sure.

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I tried to meet up with BBKings this morning, but I guess I was 1 minute late! I was dawdling with my ipod to get new songs loaded and left my place too late! Doh! So hoping to catch up to them, I rode as fast I could, even took a short cut to try to catch up. But never did.

But I decided to do the route anyways on my own. Always wanted to see how hard it would be. It didn’t sound too hard - up Rock Store, drop down Mulholland, and up Encinal. It was a bit chilly this morning - I shoulda worn my long gloves and jacket as my teeth were chattering coming downhill on Mulholland. BRrrrrrrr….. I was greeted by a beautiful dog at the foot of the Rock Store climb. I should have taken a picture, DARN IT! She was so gentle, sweet, and BEAUUUUtiful. Her name was Dreamer. She looked just like how she sounds. Lots of white fur everywhere,.. big white dog with lots of white fur. So much white fur that you could get lost in it… Her owner said that she was a therapy dog at UCLA, comforts the patients when they are sick in bed. Darn it, I should have taken a picture! I had even brought my camera and carried it with me in RL’s Bento box. I want a dog just like Dreamer…

Anyhoos, I didn’t run into anyone from my group on my route. I did run into Rich and Cindy from the CVC while climbing up Encinal. He invited me to ride with them, and I laughed - no WAY I could keep up with them. He suggested that I ride with Thalo who might be my speed… Shortly thereafter, I finished the ride, and swung by the restaurant to see everyone there. Talked to Linda and Turi, and a few others over some bagels. The ride actually was NOT BAD AT ALL. It was pretty easy. Well, maybe not easy, but not strenuous to the least. Climb up Encinal was pretty steady, easy. Climb up Rock Store was harder than Encinal, I think. Either that, or I’m actually getting better? Could it be? :-\ I’m not any faster though, I don’t think… The only thing that bothered me on the ride today was a sore bum while climbing up Encinal and numb toes… Yes, STILL numb.

Distance: 43 miles
Elevation gain: about 4500 ft
Average speed: 11mph
Top speed: 36mph
Time in saddle: 3 hrs, 42 min
Animals seen: 1 road kill skunk, 2 flattened lizards, 3 black beetles(?), 1 dead snake, and a bunch of birds that I don’t know what the name of them are. Just black and brown birds.. :-]

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I rushed to get to tonight’s ride group but I was running late, so decided to try to meet them at Westlake and Triunfo.  I guess I never caught up to them or they never caught up to me - hard to believe.  I started off by myself and ended by myself.  heh. They probably took a different route… O well.  So today was just me, my bike, and the road.  I saw a movie being shot on Potrero.  Of course, no camera with me AGAIN today, so missed another picture perfect photo opportunity. GRRRRRRrrrrr… I need to find a pouch of some kind to carry my BIG ASS camera with me.  If the Bento box doesn’t fit, I will go get a smaller camera…

Quick 20 miles to Hidden Valley and back.  Pretty easy.  I’m resting tomorrow to get ready for my ride on Saturday morning…  Hope I can finish at a decent time.

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I’ve been trying to bike for the last 3 days, but haven’t had the chance.  Either sleeping in too late or kitesurfing…. I’m not complaining, of course, but I gotta get on my bike, DARN IT!  Saturday is 4500 ft of climbing with the BBKings.  I hope I survive… I may just start earlier than the rest of the group and hope that I finish by noon…

Might need an adjustment on the derailleur - it’s not shifting as smooth as it did on my previous rides… :-\

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Like the title says, I Double-Heart Kitesurfing! I got the call from Mur - at 12pm, she says, “AHHHH!! It’s 20 at Leo!” So, I thought, “Shit, how am I supposed to leave?!!” After pacing all day and interviewing a couple of candidates for a position, I rushed out of work at 430 and headed to Leo. 15-25mph. =) Mur was still recuperating from the poison oak fiasco (what a nightmare - hospitalization, being on steroids for a month, not to mention the antibiotics and the side effects of the steroids) so hadn’t brought her windsurfing gear! She regretted on the beach while I cruised back and forth on the water.

Rigged my Synergy, went out for an hour before it got a bit gusty. I saw Ronnie on the water on 7m Waroo, so knew I’d be good on my 10m. And it also occurred to me that he didn’t fly his arcs anymore, and I wanted Mur to find a kite to learn on, so asked Ronnie about it. Deal DONE! Mur bought Ronnie’s entire quiver of arcs plus silver board. HA! GREAT deal.  We went to Ronnie’s pad to pick up the toys. What a nice place! I’m going to sell my place as soon as the market recovers….

Anyhoos, it was nice to be on the water.  Cold at first, but eh. I didn’t get to kite during the weekend even though it was stinkin’ hot.  Not 40 degrees, so it’s OKAY. FUUUUUUUN… Mur took some pictures too (they are coming sooooon…). I’m still looking for a tiny camera to carry with me on my flights, bike rides, and kite sesh.

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After some convincing by RL tonight, I’ve decided to start training for the Malibu Tri in September. I know I can do the swim and bike portion right now. The running part is what I don’t like. All that pounding on the knees - I don’t know how my knees will react.  My homework for this week is to find a triathlon group to start training with. I found a women’s group to train with online, but… I think I prefer a co-ed group.  Too many women might mean too much drama.  In the meantime, I’ll keep biking, start swimming, and start running. I DON’T LIKE TO RUN….  Maybe I will see the light and change my mind when I start running again…

I saw a LOT of cyclists this morning.  The Mulholland Challenge, I think.  As for my ride this morning, I think today’s route is my favorite route of all. It used to be Mulholland-Malibu Lake-Rock Store-Decker-Hidden Valley and back.  But today’s ride up Piuma-down Stunt is, by far, my favorite now.  Nice long climb. And the downhill was so so so so nice.  Uphill was not easy. Not hard, but not easy. I was glad that I had the compact cranks and 27s in the back in the last few hundred feet of the climb.  I started to feel it in my left knee a little bit.  But it wasn’t impossible.   So beautiful up there… I SO wished that I had brought my camera with me. But my camera is SO fricken BIG. So I went to BestBuy and bought a smaller camera to carry with me. I need to go pick up a Bento Box thingamajig for the camera so that I can start carrying it with me on my bike. =P

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Friday Night Date Night with Mur last night. Ha! I showed her some basic things about flying a Peter Lynn, we walked on the beach, talked about life, relationships, love, career, and future, we ate crepe, and gave each other lots of hugs. Ha! Nice date, right? Too bad she’s not male. I came across this quote in the bookstore while on my “date” with Mur. I liked it…

Dance as though no one is watching.
Love as though you’ve never been hurt.
Sing as though no one can hear you.
Live as though heaven is on earth.

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Another day at work.  Another frustrating day.  It was warm and windy today…WARM WIND. GRRRRRG!  I hate it when it’s warm and nice outside while I’m stuck in the office.  Especially when there is WARM wind.  It’s the best type of day for kitesurfing: warm wind, cool water… But not enough time for a kitesurfing sesh so I zipped home to ride my bike.

I headed out to Rock Store with Frenchy tonight and decided to skip the Thursday CVC ride last minute. I rode as hard as I could, but of course, he kicked my ass.  :(  I need to ride more so that I can get stronger and finally try to beat a guy up Rock Store. Or, at least stay even with him. VERY FRUSTRATING! I guess I was a sore loser today after a frustrating day at work. GRRRRrrrrr… Just a little friendly competition..eh.

Anyhoos, Mur is finally out of the hospital, but still weak and trying to recover.  I was entertaining the idea of going up to San Francisco to fly the Dumps with James and Lorie from the March Maneuvers Clinic, but no glider yet, so I will stay local. My new glider is supposed to be here next week. I hope it’s pretty…

It’s supposed to be in the 90s this weekend, so I may camp at the beach with Mur and bring all the toys.  Maybe Leo, maybe ventura, maybe santa barbara, or Jalama.  I hope it gets windy enough to kitesurf!

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So, Mur has been hospitalized with a FULL ON infection from the poison oak/poison ivy (she doesn’t know which one…). And her poison oak/ivy condition has become systemic - in the blood stream. So now, she has the rash on random parts of her body instead of a localized area. NOT GOOD. It looks like she’ll be in the hospital for at least 3 days. Idiot doctor gave her antibiotics and steroids at the same time which counteracts each other, and could have killed her. Her open cut from that day that she landed in the tree 2 weeks ago is completely infected and the doctors are concerned that the new antibiotic isn’t working… VERY BAD NEWS! She’s in good spirits though. She said she’ll never complain about anything ever again. Just stay happy no matter what happens - as long as she lives through this and never get poison oak ever again. Sigh…

Note to self: AVOID the BUSHES, especially poison oak, AT ALL COSTS! I don’t want any poison oak/ivy getting on my skin… NEVER.. EVER!

So I shouldn’t be complaining about anything anymore. I don’t have poison oak, and am in good health. No more complaining about job and life. I’ll just strive to be happy. Keep to the plan…. better life. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts…

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So, I was crunching my month-end numbers at work today, daydreaming about riding my bike/kitesurfing/flying, and remembered a girl telling me that she was “living a dream” in response to my simply asking her, “How are you?”  I’m setting a goal for myself for next year to be “living a dream” like her by this time next year.  The restlessness is keeping me unable to concentrate, I want to go back to traveling off the beaten path to remote parts of the world again more than ever, and I’m feeling cramped in my job, house, and situation.  I don’t think a 2 week vacation is going to cure this one… :-\  Sigh…. Not complaining, just need a refreshing outlook on life again, I guess.  Plan in the works…

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